My "Bucket List"

Funny how Shawshank is like a motion picture quote book…“Get Busy Living or Get Busy Dying” you won’t hear anything in any high school graduation speech more simple and poignant than that.

If my life ended today, it wouldn’t be being single or not owning a house that I’d regret, that’s up to more than me alone but rather all the things I haven’t done when only myself stood in the way. For that reason I decided to come up with my own “Bucket List”, just like the movie I still haven’t seen. A list of things I most want to do before I die. I ranked them from (what I deem to be) easiest to hardest. Read on and I promise to keep you updated on my progress.

#10 Go Skydiving: This is on a lot of people’s “Bucket List” but its first on mine because really all I have to do is sign up, drive an hour and a half to this place pay $255 (more if I want a video) and jump. Nothing about this scares me even one bit. The obstacle would be finding someone to do this with me but if I can’t find anyone, I have no problem going down there alone.

#9 Learn to Play Guitar: Also not complicated but something I’ve always wanted to do is learn to play a six string acoustic guitar. According to Malcolm Gladwell, I need to practice for 10,000 hours to become a master guitar player. If I practice for one hour every day that will get me there when I am 60, so I may have to settle for being an adequate guitar player with a couple good songs down pat but at the start it’s just a $150 starter guitar and some lessons on YouTube and I’d be on my way.

#8 Home Brew a Beer: This is more of a process with a higher cost of failure but would be a delicious success. I’m thinking of a Hefenwizen or Belgian ale as those are my favorite summer beers and this would be a summer project. I’d need to get a home brewing kit and a lot of instruction from McKenna, who’s had some success with this recently but I would love the opportunity to make beer for myself and friends.

#7 Win a Food Challenge: Hard to believe with my appetite and love of spicy food that I have never taken any dining establishment up on a food challenge yet. That has to change, exactly which challenge at which place in what part of the country I’m not sure. I guess I can start watching Man v. Food Nation and take up the closest one unconquered but if anyone has any suggestions, I’m all ears.

#6 See the Denver Broncos play a regular season game in Denver: I’ve been a Broncos fan for just about 27 years now, and have seen them play in Foxboro and the Meadowlands but like a Jew who hasn’t been to Israel or an Elvis fan who hasn’t been to Graceland, I am starting to feel guilty that I haven’t made the pilgrimage to Mile High to see the Broncos play a home game. Out of all the items on this list, I would be the most bummed if my life came and went without me doing this of all things, hey and maybe now’s the time that the team is bad and the secondary ticket market is a little down.

#5 Go to Las Vegas: I’ve never been, maybe that doesn’t surprise you considering how risk-averse I’ve spent most of the years up to this point, but like any American male, I want to go. I just want to go with enough money saved up that if I lost every bet I made I could still have a good time and make my rent.

#4 Coach: Little League, Special Olympics, High School Football it doesn’t really matter. I just want to at least once have the opportunity to mentor someone and make their life better for having learned from me. Just like I learned from so many coaches in everything I played during my childhood. Of course these things are easier to get into when you have children but I think a hat and a whistle would suit me just fine.

#3 Run the Boston Marathon in under 4 hours: Don’t laugh. I’ve run enough over the past two years to imagine the possibility of running a marathon and of course this is the only one I’m interested in running. If I have to run another to qualify so be it, but I have the training program to build my mileage up to the point where I may be able to do this in the next year or two.

#2 Write a Book or Screenplay: I don’t care whether it gets published or not, to see a stack of print and know that it consists of solely my ideas and words would make me proud enough. If someone found it worthy of being published or produced that would be more than I ever could’ve imagined for my life but to take a story from beginning to end would be a fun and fulfilling process.

#1 Drive from East Coast to West Coast: I already know the route I’d go. Centreville to Pittsburgh to Columbus, OH (to see my niece of course), to Cincinnati, to Indianapolis to Chicago (largest city I’ve never been to) to St. Louis to Kansas City to Denver to Salt Lake City to San Francisco to Los Angeles and back via Las Vegas, Phoenix, San Antonio, Austin, Dallas, Memphis, Atlanta and Charlotte before going back to Centreville. I’ve always wondered about how much of this country I have yet to see, what it looks like what the people are like. Just as I’m sure the pioneers of the 19th century wondered what was west of the colonies when they expanded this country. Given enough vacation time and perhaps a rental car and a digital camera, I would love the chance to see the whole country for myself.

So now that my bucket list is in writing, it’s time to “get busy living” and I think I’m on my way…I bought the guitar yesterday.